RE: Need Console 101 badly

["Joe Pluta" <joepluta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hmmm.  So maybe the thin console is a red herring, and I really need to
decide about Ops Console.

Thin console requires special hardware (about $700, and that's without a
monitor), which is in effect a dedicated emulation machine.  Yuk!  Whereas
Ops Console (or LAN Console - which is the correct term?) is thick client
software which runs on a generic Wintel machine (and thus is accessible via
VNC).

My biggest problem with Ops Console is that it seems to require TCP/IP, and
so what if you ENDTCPSVR?  Does it bring down the console???  That's my big
concern, because invariably about once a year I do something that requires
an ENDTCPSVR, and I just get the heebie-jeebies worrying that I can't run
STRTCPSVR because I can't sign on to the console because I can't run
STRTCPSVR because I can't sign on to the console because...

Joe



> From: Larry Bolhuis
>
> ...cap the marker and open the window joe..... :-)
>
> There is a device called the 'Thin Console'.  It does most of what you
> describe over a simple connection to one of the i5's HMC ports. This is
> Ethernet so the connection truly is very simple. The device however only
> does what a Twinax tube does - 5250 emulation. So you end up not wasting
> a slot for a twinax card and the required IOP and you get twinax class
> simplicity and reliability.  Unless it's gotten some serious upgrades,
> it doesn't connect to anything else so you can't connect to it with
> Telnet or a browser. It's just a terminal.
>
> Yes OPS console is 'fat' and it has it's problems mostly the Windows PC
> required to run it. However once it's running it does work pretty well.
> I use LAN console almost everywhere I don't have an HMC. I often simply
> use an old PC with W2K or XP. For FrankieIII it's an old thinkpad with
> no display (I access it via remote desktop) You could easily use one to
> access both the 270 and the i5 being the primary console for both systems.
>
> For the cheapest HMC purchase a desktop or desk-side unit and use you
> own monitor or KVM.  Both are under $1900 though that still doesn't
> qualify as 'cheap'  It does everything I want a console to do and the
> newest software version allows you to access it from a simple browser
> (no more WEBSM).
>
> So as usual you pay your money and take your choice.